Abstract

The Sydlik group at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, is developing novel strategies to improve human health through the platform materials of polymers and functional graphenic materials. Functional graphenic materials (FGMs) are prepared through chemical modification of graphene oxide, an allotrope of carbon with abundant carbon-oxygen functionality.

The Sydlik group has found FGMs to be bio- and environmentally compatible and have applied these materials in conjunction with polymers to address several applications for human health. Specifically, using charged FGM surfaces, we have shown the ability to tune the surface response towards bacteria, creating bacterio-repulsive or bacterio-adhesive surfaces. Using similar
chemistry, we synthesized peptide-FGM conjugates capable of assembling into micron-scale macromolecular constructs. Finally, we are utilizing peptide assembly and electrostatic interactions to develop peptide amphiphiles that serve as a new class of treatment for drug overdose. Together, the FGMs and polymers rationally designed by the Sydlik group have shown promise to improve the landscape of human health.

CV

Prof. Sydlik is an Associate Professor of Chemistry with a courtesy appointment in Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. She received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the direction of Professor Timothy Swager studying novel triptycene and nanocarbon based materials. She continued her training at MIT as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Robert Langer, developing a novel biomimetic block copolymer for cartilage repair and establishing the biocompatibility of graphene oxide. Through her training, she received fellowships from the Beckman Foundation, NSF, and NIH. Her group at Carnegie Mellon focuses on the synthesis of novel polymers and functional graphenic materials with applications in human health. In her independent career, she has been recognized as an ACS PMSE Young Investigator, a World Economic Forum Young Scientist, Tartan on the Rise, Moore Inventor Fellow, and a Humboldt Research Fellow.